The Prophecy of the Starnik REMASTERED
by The FalconWolf
Summary: *NOT A&O* With both ideas and characters of old and new, this is the remake to my original story featuring and young man and she-wolf who share and incredible destiny to lead their species to peace. With marvellous abilities, they must accomplish this tremendous task all while facing a dark society who's objective is to terminate them at all costs.
1. Chapter 1

p style="text-align: center;"Hello one and all, just a brief hello too both old and new friends and readers. It has been in the works for a while that I am slowly redoing these stories. Slowly and gradually, it has been requested I put them both here and FictionPress, therefore I oblige and have done so. These will take time to do, done in my spare time which doesn't come in great quantity. You will have the old characters and new ones, original plans and many new to get rid of the horrendous fillers and plots. I am yet to fully decide where this one story will end, better yet, how it will get there, but then again I've never known when I write. I'd again like to thank anyone who is interested in reading this and I ask to leave a review to tell me if you think it's any better. I definitely feel it is, but let's have a strangers point of view. I will upload chapters every couple of nights or when I can remember. So far I've just finished chapter 12, we shall see how long this can last. So without further ado, let us revisit The Prophecy of the Starnik REMASTERED./p 


	2. Chapter 1 School Days

The Prophecy of the Starnik

Chapter 1: School Days.

Legends, myths, conspiracy even comes under it, but for the time being, and for the purpose of this tale, we'll stick with prophecy. No matter what you call it, it's something that says we're a part of something; maybe not something major, but something nonetheless. Destiny might be a better way of saying this, fate too. Something that was preordained long in the past all about you and nothing but you. However, for this instance we're going to have to make an excuse, for this story is not about one, but two.

Humanity is not the only one that knew of these prophecies; several species from around the world have their own stories to tell. Yes, I'm talking about animals, bears, lions, fish…you name one, there's a story somewhere to tell. This one prophecy I'm going to tell you about changed to face of the earth in the years that followed for not only humanity, but for our own species, wolf kind. It was one that brought the two under its control to find peace, pain, torment, love and indeed happiness in the end. But who are these two individuals, I hear you ask? First a history lesson.

Three thousand years ago, before a time the humans call "Christ", wolf kind were in the prime of it's existence thanks to their dominantly bigger cousins, the Dire Wolves. Creatures that were said to be the size of a human, with claws the length of letter openers, canines the size of knives and paws as large as dinner plates. They were the "apex predator" of the planet, the rulers and nothing stood in their way of surviving, hence why they thrived across the world in this time. It was also that reason the humans, with their spears and bow with arrows, saw they threatened their own existence. And it needed to be stopped.

A war ensued between them, with more casualties inflicting on the Dires. The humans hunted them down, using their furs for warmth and decoration, their heads for trophies and bones for medicinal use. A long time this continued, years before something needed to happen. Out of know where, with no understanding of how this happened, a single human and Dire wolf stood out between the conflict, finding an understanding and a shared idea for peace for all. It was said the human and wolf gods smiled down on them, and with their blessings, bestowed great powers to keep the peace. The human, the ability to control whatever he wished with only a thought, the agility and speed of his friend to keep up with her. The she-wolf, a passive gift of healing all those caught in the conflict and manipulation over the winds as a warning. The eyes were what gave them away, it was said they were never able to hide their eyes. Their job was simple, end this madness. After years, they earned themselves the name of "The Starnik", an olden language which translates as "Saviours".

Long story short, they failed, their own species driving them away, refusing to take part in any truce and peace. After years of trying, they were declared outsiders, hunted by anything and everything. To end it all, it was said that when the day came that they were cornered by those they once called friends, brothers and sisters, they quoted something the God's told them, that one day the Starnik shall return, and they WILL succeed in what they failed to do. They were laughed at, and upon proceeding to cut them down, both humans and Dires witness the Starnik obliterate into a ball of fire. Nobody knows what happened, it was concluded they saved their species the trouble of ending their lives for them and did it themselves.

The Starnik were gone, and the outcome of the war…well, it's pretty obvious don't you think? The Dire Wolves were driven to extinction, the last said to roam to the north of a place now known as "America". The only ones found now are fossils, or faked abominations now placed in museums. But what of the prophecy? It was a story the humans forgot after a few centuries, just another bedtime story. Not even that. Wolf kind however, the younger, luckier cousins to the Dire wolves that survived the war, many clung onto that story, some living in hope that someday the Starnik would return to save them from the human hunters that now came after them for sport. Others thought of it as nothing but a story, but at least they remembered unlike humanity. Just another species gone extinct.

Moving on now, let's get back on track by skipping ahead a few thousand years to now. This young man walking down his school corridor goes by the name of Scott, just Scott; his surname is a bit of a mystery even to him. With graduation looming, these last few months counted. Scott's background is like most others, only with childcare instead of parents. He was abandoned at the care homes doors a year old, with no recollection of anything but his name. His parents were unknown to everyone, but with his black hair and blue eyes it wasn't much to go on. Kalispell city of Montana, America was his hometown, for seventeen years old he was doing pretty well for himself. He lived in his own little apartment; a small but current amount of money from the state's child protective services pays for it and his welfare. It was better then living with all the other kids, the other place wasn't the best. So when his sixteenth birthday came around he was in no hesitation to decline the chance. A threat or two once a day, the occasional beating once a week, the everyday theft of something. Here, he had everything for himself. All he had to do was put up with a weekly visit from his care-worker for an hour or two to make sure everything's ok and to get an understanding of everything.

The good side however, his friends were always there to make him smile, save him from the local bullies if needed be. All in all, they all looked out for each other in this town. His dream in ten years time was to do something outside the city, rarely does he leave this place, there was nothing for him here so someplace quiet and secluded, surrounded by nature was what he pictured. He didn't want to live here longer then he had to. When the day comes that child care has no control over him, he's long gone! But until that time, this was what he had to deal with.

With no warning, as he walked down these quiet corridors on the way to class which he was already running late for, he was blindsided from his left with some great force and slammed into the wall. "Ahh…damn it." He seethed and clasping his sure to be bruised arm.

"What's the rush?" Asked the big burly teenager that stood in front of him.

"Leave me alone Sam." Sam, captain of the Lacrosse team. Born in England, bringing with him the same accent. An attempt at being a body builder of sorts, he was a pretty strong muscular guy, not one you wanted to be on the wrong side of. "I'm already late for class." He tried to walk around him; this only resulted in a second young man grabbing his rack-sack slug over his shoulder and throwing it on the floor.

"I'll ask again, what's the rush?"

"Trying to avoid you two idiots would be another thing." His daring insult only brought him a sharp kick to the calf from the second boy. With a little cry of pain from the expected surprise, Scott was grabbed by his jacket and pushed back against the wall. The second lad took a hold of his wrists to stop retaliation. It was already planned out.

"You show a little more respect to us." He sneered into his face, spitting on him a little bit to as he did. "Now is not the time to start showing off." Scott put up with insults like this all the time, if not at school then in the care home. He predicted what would come next if he spat in Sam's face. Sam reeled back from it, wiping it off his face with his sleeve and in that time Scott started taking deep breaths of fear and bracing himself. "For that I think I'm going to have to…" Before he could even lift his fist, they heard the sound of a teachers shoes growing louder, the sign every student in the school took to stop whatever it was they were doing and act innocent. Moments later, a teacher stepped out of the room a little way down the corridor. Scott was dropped and he quickly picked up his bag.

"What's going on out here?" The teacher classically demanded. "Hurry on up Scott, you're already later." Then the teacher stepped back inside. Without hesitation, Scott stepped away with a hurry and towards them room.

"Don't take lightly to this; I'll see you after school." Growled Sam as he turned around to find his next toy on the way to his classes.

"Damn thugs." Scott Mumbled as he walked inside, he was safe for now.

"Well it's about time." A teenage girl said as he sat down at his desk towards the back of the room. This was Skye, long, and I mean really long blonde hair that went half way down her back. Her grey irises bore nothing but kindness with a hint of cheekiness whenever it was necessary.

"Don't tell me, Sam again?" Another boy asked. This was Dean, Scott's first real friend he met at a very young age. His short brown hair and same coloured eyes may sound boring, but that because he was the most sensible out of the group. He liked things to go the way he planned, otherwise he'd panic.

"Not really, although I think I'm dead after school." Scott whispered as the lesson began. It was then he was nudged from his right.

"Think nothing of him dude, nobody else does." This was Tony, the most outgoing and ridiculous of all of them. An African-American, not that, that meant anything to any of them. He was one for "act now and think later", disorganised might be another way of describing him. All in all, they considered themselves a team, when one goes the other won't be far behind. Their own little "A-Team" they've once said.

"So guys, there's something I've been thinking…" Dean was unable to finish when the teacher happened to be quiet at the time.

"You four, do I need to split you up again?" She asked.

"No ma'am, we're sorry." Scott grinned with a slight laugh in there. She turned around and continued on with the lesson. And another in paradise was beginning, just another typical day.


	3. Chapter 2 The Trip

Prophecy of the Starnik

Chapter 2- The Trip

"So guys, I've been thinking…" Dean leaned across the table. This lesson was more of a catch up time, during this time in the school year, finals would be soon. This was one of those lesson were it was time to knuckle down and finish those unfinished essays and pieces of course work. It wasn't one of those strict classes, neither was the teacher, she encouraged everyone to work together, help one another. Just as long as whatever they spoke about was the topic at hand and in front of them. It was a good thing Mrs. M was on the other side of the room dealing with another student. Of course, the three double checked that before listening in. "I'm not doing anything over the term, and I doubt any of you are?"

Looking at on another, everyone shook their heads replying with hushed voices. "Not really."

"Well, I've been thinking that we should all take a trip up to my parent's cabin up in the mountains for the holidays. What do you guys think?"

"You really think we can do that?" Tony questioned.

"Sure, they told me it'll good fun. A time to reflect and relax through these grades."

"I'll admit, I think I could do with something like that now." Skye cracked a grin, clicking her pen a few times.

"It's perfect, secluded, five miles from any town, deep within the forest with a Valley not far away. We used to do hikes around there all the time.

"Well then count me in." Tony Scott said enthusiastically, but silent.

"Then don't leave me behind" Tony added with a large smile.

"Then it's settled, we'll have a week up there, we can do hikes, mess around, not to mention the wildlife up there. It's incredible. "I arrange things with my parents and email you guys the details."

"Wildlife you say? This'll be good for Animal Studies." Scott added intrigued.

"Oh you said it, the moose, a bear every once in a while, there used to be wolves but they aren't around much these days." It was then the bell rang, the natural reaction was the grab their things, sliding them into their bags and, more or less, run out the door and leave, which is pretty much what everyone did.

"I'm genuinely excited about this." Tony said, tapping the table eagerly while grabbing his belongings.

"I'll send you guys the details."

"See you around guys." Skye said patting Scott's shoulder before walking towards the door. She wasn't really one of those girly girls you seen. To be honest, most of her friends were guys. As she said quite often, "I'm just like one of the guys".

Anyway, Scott gathered his belongings and slid them into his side bag. But upon doing it up he came to a startling realisation. _"Don't take lightly to this; I'll see you after school."_ His usual threat, he'd be sat outside the fronts doors ready to either grab him at the door or start following him home with a group of friends. He was afraid of him, no questions there, but he'd still put up a fight against him.

"Hey Tony!" He called to his friend before he walked out the door. "I need a favour again." Immediately he knew what his friends was talking about and had already extended his hands to catch the set of keys thrown at him.

"You got it buddy." He then carried on along his way.

Sam had eyes throughout the school, unlike Scott; he had a large social group. The wrong move or the wrong turn and Sam would be on him like a bloodhound to a rabbit. He had to negotiate the hallways and long corridors without drawing the attention he so didn't want to. This was becoming an art, so it was a piece of cake. Getting from one side of the school to another, walking across the sports gym and opening the fire exit, he peeked outside and waited. Not long after the familiar sound of his Vauxhall Corsa came from the other side. It was nothing special, small and cheap, it got him from A to B. Silently stopping, he smiled and walked straight to the driver's door while Tony shuffled across to the next seat.

"This is becoming a habit." Tony chuckled making Scoot do so as well.

He clipped in his seat belt and readied to pull away when someone shouted behind him. That voice feared by name. "Crap…" He muttered when seeing Sam with his group of buddies coming up behind him.

"Looks like you'll need to find another way out from here on." They were relaxed; they were driving a one ton driving machine. He started to pull away, Sam automatically giving chase on foot. His Lacrosse training made him a fast runner and he was behind him in seconds. But Scott still smiled.

"Check this out." Without warning, the brake light blared, and although he thought his reactions were good, he didn't see this coming. Being right behind the vehicle, Sam's face pressed into the glass with a big thud. It was with a great deal of force to, enough to make him more or less bounce straight off the back and to the floor. Moving away again, Scott and Tony couldn't contain their laughter. Sam however pushed himself up with his elbow with a groan, running his hand underneath his nose to inspect the amount of blood trickling from it and his nose. One of his closest friends came running up behind him, grabbing his arm to help him up, which to when he was up at his feet Sam pushed him away, not wanting to appear weak. "I'm going to kill that son of a bitch." He growled.

"You know that's the worst thing you could've done right?" Tony laughed away.

"That's after term's problem now."

"You know, I don't think saying "sorry" is going to work."

"You know what…I don't think so either." Scott chuckled.

Scott lived on the other side of town, so it took no more then ten minutes to get there. However, along the way they always had to pass one place that sent shivers along their spines. Kalispell Airport. Abandoned now, allegedly, yet lights from inside could still be seen at night, military looking vehicles drove through the main gates, always guarded by armed guards. It was "closed down" after a serious fire enraged inside somewhat thirty years ago, but that wouldn't explain why it was still guarded and people still seemed to be inside. Rumours where it was haunted, hence why the light turned on and off at night and shadows could be seen from the fences. It was a eerie place, whether or not that was true, nobody went in or came out unless those guards at the main gate let them.

On the brighter side, Scott's apartment was located a few minutes away, thankfully not in view of the horrendous building. Tony's home with his parent wasn't more then a couple of blocks down the road. So after pulling up in the parking lot, discussing tomorrow's plans to avoid Sam beforehand, they departed ways. Scott walked up the outdoor steps along the balcony to room 9, where he could finally relax. He leaned back against his door after stepping inside; letting out a content sigh now he could relax. He flung his coat onto the hanging post to his left, his nag on dropped at the foot of it. To the right of the door was a shoe cabinet, onto top a music player already hooked up to a play list. With the press of a button, speakers mounted around the apartment played his favourite music. It was a little place, one bedroom, living room and kitchen as well in one area. Bathroom, complete with shower and bath tub, and that was more or less it. It doesn't sound like much, neither did it look like much, but it was the preferred option compared to the care home.

He's only lived here five months, five months of freedom! No more beatings, money always in his pocket rather then out and in the pockets of others…privacy and independents! This was a, sort of, halfway house. At the age of sixteen a child in care can choose to move out of the home and live elsewhere. If they decide this, they get a steady set of income to support them until they are employed, a check-in once every few weeks and the rest to down to them. At aged twenty one, they're on their own, no matter what their employed status or the situation. Scott had his heart set, his mind made up, everything was planed out.

Evening rolled in pretty quickly; with the sun a hour or two from setting, dinner was already on the go. Asian beef, simple and easy to do. Music still played around him, he even did a little dance while he was cooking just to amuse himself. He turned around to the newspaper on the table behind him, flicking over a page when suddenly the music turned off. Strange, it only did that when someone made it. A man then walked around the corner, a smile on his face. "Is that going to be the only way to get your attention now?"

"Ken? What are you doing here?" Scott asked with his own smile.

"Being a good social worker, as always." Ken here was always one of the good guys, the person Scott could turn to with any problems and such.

"And really?" He wasn't buying it.

"The term's done; I need you to sign your life away." He dropped his bag on the floor, rummaging through quickly before laying a piece of paper on the table. "With your signature, this says that whatever you do to yourself is not my fault." Scott leaned over the table a little more and read through it carefully. In that time, Ken started nosing around, even though he's been here countless times before. "Settling in nicely here."

"Of course, no more sharing rooms, everything in here I can happily call mine."

"It's good to see you happier, you know." He said and turning back around, dropping a pen beside Scott's hand afterwards. "You've really come out of your shell."

"You can thank crap parents for that." He put his mark on the line where it was required before clicking the pen and sliding them both back towards Ken. "And I guess I've got to thank you in a way."

"I wouldn't have done my job properly if I hadn't fine what I have." Ken replied and putting it all back in place in his bag. "So, planning on going anywhere this term."

"Nope, some alone time with some friends." He lied. "Finish studying maybe, other then that, I'll be right here."

"Now when have you ever been that boring?" Ken questioned as they walked towards the door.

"Always, nothing amazing has ever happened in my life, so I guess nothing ever will for a while yet."

The following morning, it was relatively early still. Most would still be asleep on this Sunday morning; but most didn't have an epic trip to get started on. With the help of Skye Scott carried with luggage inside. A week's worth of clothing packed into this suitcase, and a couple of other small bags with utilities and such suggested by Dean. This was his home; his parents were out of town for this weekend so they were sure they said goodbye on the Friday that they left. Being Tony, the more disorganised of the four and the one to always arrive late, Dean offered breakfast, already underway by the time Skye had arrived ten minutes prior to Scott. They shut the door and proceeded inside, through the living room and left into the large kitchen area where Scott took a seat at the table.

"It's good to offer us this." Scott spoke thankfully.

"Be glad Skye's here, she's the one you've got to thank for the bacon. Heck, I burn cornflakes!" He said. Knowing Dean, that was probably about right. How they'd survive this week without starving would be interesting.

"Oh come on, what's so hard about this?" She giggled, bringing over a plate for her and Scott and together they ate while Dean ate his on the side with a map in front of him. He was marking the roads they needed to take, he had one and whoever went in the second car would have this one. Dean had his father's pick-up they left behind for him and Tony was bringing his parent's car luckily he was now insured with.

Ten minutes into their wait now, Tony was still to arrive and everyone was starting to grow impatient. But finally they heard something promising, the sounds of a car pulling up outside, only this one sounds loud, even music could be heard blaring out despite it was on the other side of the house and away some more. Accompanied with a few blasts of a horn, instantly they knew he was here, and at the same time they all spoke. "Tony's here…"

Opening the door now, there he was turning his music off and the engine to step out and slam the door. "You guys won't believe how long I've wanted to drive this thing." He grinned ear to ear. The three simply rolled their eyes and started grabbing bags. Together, they filled up the cars, putting a rough equal weight and amount in both before performing final checks and who went with who. Within fifteen minutes of Tony's arrival, they were locked and loaded and ready to leave town. Skye and Tony and Dean and Scott.

Driving out of town, the fun and games begun once they passed that eerie looking building at the top of the hill. With a couple of playful and careful races down the freeway, this two and a half hour journey wasn't as long or boring as they thought. Until they got lost sue to Dean's leading and Scott's map skill, prolonging their journey by an additional hour. This was one of those journeys, as Dean put it, where when you're in the middle of nowhere that's when they were close. Eventually, the maps ran out of usefulness and they had to rely on his memory when they came to the outskirts of the forest. Trying to remember which of the many off road tracks to head down as the next puzzle, some were trial and error until Dean recognised the little sign he made back when he was five hanging on a tree by the start of the beaten track. There were six cabins located in this part of the forest, but separate from each other, around a miles walk if you wanted to borrow something from one another. Between one another and all around was wild territory, Dean filled Scott in along the way of the potential dangers out here which included bears, wolves and a number of stags that would charge if you went close enough.

They almost hit one of those stags driving along the track towards the cabin; it ran out in front of them at great speed, hardly giving them time to stop. "Damn, that thing came out of nowhere." Scott muttered. But suddenly a second creature appeared; it darted from the right, suddenly coming to a stop in front of them. A wolf, a kind of light brown coloured wolf that gave them a hard glare. Other then seeing them in a zoo once, this was a first for him, magnificent. Dean gave a blast of the horn, spooking it and it ran off in the same direction as the stag to the left. "Now how beautiful was that?"

"That's life out here." Dean answered and after signalling to Skye and Tony behind them they continued on. Driving on through, they were almost there, but behind them a set of hazel eyes peeked through the bushes again and watched them leave. Her instincts may have been good, but this instinctual pull she felt she hadn't experience before. It confused her, something was coming, something was going to happen soon. But what? She didn't like it, she needed to go home now, today's meal was long gone.

It was amazing, everything Scott dreamed of living in one day. He hated living in town, he wanted to live in a place like this, secluded, peaceful. This was a good sized wooden lodged, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, garage, kitchen, gas and electricity. Rooms were called out as soon as they stepped foot inside. Dean called his parent's room, Skye his own and Tony and Scott compromised. Tony would spend the first half of the week in the last room and Scott would take the last few days, if they weren't in the room then they'd be on the couch downstairs in the main room. It was perfect, amazing, it was tempting to just stay here forever.

An hour after arriving, there was nothing to do, there was hours of daylight left so just hanging around when there was a beautiful forest to explore outside wasn't an option. They decided to take a small walk in the nearby areas that Dean knew of. There was a trail that did a nice loop of the forest starting behind the cabin. The four gossiped and spoke about random topics that young teenagers do before things took a different turn when they ran out of conversations an hour into their walk. "Hey guys, I've got an idea." Skye said with a devilish grin. The boys listened in keenly. She then punched Tony's shoulder and darted down the hill to the left. "Catch us if you can!" She screamed when in an instant Scott and Dean darted off in their own directions. Tony took chase after Scott who ran right and up the hill, the thrill of a catch, who'd have thought it would be so entertaining?

They darted around trees together, with the other's long gone Tony had his eyes set on this one person. This forest was huge, if he lost him then there'd be no chance he'd find Scott or the others again. In fact…that was a worry, how would they know when the game was up and to head home? Wait…which way was home? Those thoughts were quickly wiped from their minds when Scott almost ran into a tree. He swerved left, then right to avoid another with Tony copying his actions as he gained on him. Tony was the faster one and they both knew it, but Scott was more cunning. When Tony came within a few inches, he leapt in an attempt to tackle his friend in turn Scott darted left and away, leaving his friend to fall into a pile of leaves. By the time he picked himself up, Scott was running into the distance.

He knew his friend would be behind him soon again, so an extra precaution was needed. He saw a mound coming up, perhaps a hill it might be. He glanced back and Tony couldn't have been more then twenty metres behind him. He quickly ran down the hill where he saw a fallen tree. He jumped over it and landed on his side, quickly scrambling back to hide behind it. He tried to quieten his rapid breathing, it was harder then it seemed, he had to muffle his mouth with his hand when he heard footsteps behind him that passed. He looked to his right, Tony was moving at a fast paced walk in completely the wrong direction along the top of the hill. He took this as a chance to move on and start heading back towards the path, if he could remember where it was anyway, he was sure it was in this direction, further down the hill. If he was wrong, at least it was the direction Skye ran in.

He continued looking around him for signs of his friend, nothing, he spun in circles to make sure he wasn't being crept up on, walking backwards to the point it was a stupid mistake. He suddenly became weightless as he fell down an eight foot rise which felt like he was falling for minutes on end. Never had falling eight feet felt higher in his life. Still, he had to hit the ground at some point, and he did with an almighty thud flat on his back. It knocked all the wind and his breath out of him, he couldn't breath or get up, so he laid their with his hand on his chest for some time. He looked up at where he was standing before he fell; it was dauntingly high from his lying position. He tilted his head back behind him, a large rock protruded out of the rock, so he shuffled backwards painfully so he could leaned against it. Now he regretted giving Tony the slip, he wished someone was here now. So for the time being he'd just have to wait so he could get his breath back.

He checked himself over for wounds, nothing broken, feeling in all his limbs. Cuts, none, bruises...most defiantly, he'd have to put some ice on his head later. As his mind seemed to settle and his pain slipped away, he started to take in his surrounds and instantly his eyes set in front of him. A dark hole in the mound he fell from the top of, some kind of cave is seemed. Curiosity started to get the better of him, he wanted a closer look. Placing his right hand down, quickly reeling it back when he touched a bone, in fact, a pile of the small bones along with a skull of what must have been a rabbit or something of that size. Looking from that to the cave, he started to wonder if it was occupied by something, which only peaked his interest all the more.

He shouldn't be doing this, it was crazy! But he started to find himself taking careful steps towards it. A gust of wind blew behind him, so he turned back behind him where a new topic caught his attention. "Woah…" Dean mentioned a Valley a few miles north east of the cabin, stretching on from east to west. It looked like some sort of massive quarry even. It looked like a bowl within the forest, hills descended down until it made a giant plain of grass herds of caribou sometimes inhabited. That's what he heard from Dean anyway; from this part he could just see a small area of it. Looking down, this rise had to be twice of that of the cave behind him, the rest of the way was a hill that had to have gone down another hundred metres before it reached the flat area of this valley. The view was incredible, if only he had a camera.

Then he heard something, a whine of a dog. He whirled his head around and stepping out of the darkness of the cave was a small pup the size of a medium sized dog. From what he knew about wolves in his Animal Study classes, this one had to be no more then five to seven months old. It was cute in a way. "Well hey there little guy." He smiled. It whimpered and whined again, this time a little louder. It scented the air while watching him, trying to suss out whether or not the human was a threat. Scott held his hand out for it, the gap between them was around eight feet. But then a daunting realisation hit at the precise moment. If baby wolf was here…where was mummy wolf?

Suddenly a loud chilling snarl screeched in his right ear and a much larger wolf leapt from that side jumping before him. He rolled backwards; quickly scrambling away to create as much distance as he could, but that large rock stopped him as he leaned up against it. He was panting hard and fast, fear struck in deep inside his chest, he was paralyzed. The small pup jumped backwards being shielded by its mother who just growled and snarled in his and the pup's direction, a warning and a scolding it seemed. Scott wanted to scream out, shout for help, but the nerve racking fear stopped him from doing this also. It was after what felt like hours of this standoff, when really it was but a few minutes, that he noticed something. It was the same wolf as this morning that jumped out in front of the car! The light brown along the head, back and tail with everything underneath white. Not so "magnificent" now…

Then it did something more then growl, it started taking menacing steps towards him. Once again, he couldn't move, his muscles contracted with the fear locking him to the spot. Six feet, five feet…when it came to just four feet of hackles, teeth and growls, he closed it eyes, which was all he really could move. Eventually, he could feel it breathing on his neck, the deep throated rumble never ending.

The wolf looked back at her pup, she needed to know that the only good human there was, was a dead one. But she was young; there was no need to learn this lesson now. But it wasn't this that made her start to fall silent, a nudge in her head, like something poked her, The more she thought of ripping this whimpering, quivering human apart the more it nudged her. She didn't understand it, but a wolf always listens to their instincts.

He didn't understand what was taking so long, what if he was dead already? What if he opened his eyes and he was sitting on a cloud, at the base of some stairs? But then he noticed the silence, which only added to the notion he was dead. He cracked open one eye, to see not only was the wolf gone from his face, but now looking at him from the den entrance. It still didn't look happy; the last he saw of it was when it turned around and faded into the den. He patted his chest, pinching himself to make sure he was alive and not dreaming. "What the f…" He couldn't believe it.

"Alright Scott…I give up!" He heard his friend's recognisable voice shout. _"Well it's about time!"_


	4. Chapter 3 Confrontations

Prophecy of the Starnik

Chapter 3: Confrontations

Hyperventilating was the only way to describe Scott's state, almost hysterical even. He shook, Skye kept in close with an arm wrapped over his shoulder trying to comfort him. He sipped at a glass of water, staring at a spot on the table in front of him, unable to move. He was in shock; he came face to face with a predator, maybe not known for killing people, but certainly one that had the opportunity to. He thought he was going to die, he felt the creature's breath on his face, the growl even now still filled his own ears. But what should he have expected? He got between a mother and its child, big mistake. However, there was a small sense of amazement. What an incredible creature, the power behind it, the ferocity, they had everything it took to be the top species of this planet. But the unanswered question…why was he now sitting here and not still lying back by that den being feasted on?

"It's crazy." Dean told him and sitting in the armchair across from them. "It's only day one and you had to go and nearly get yourself killed." Scott however was oblivious; he was still in shock, that glass of water shaking still with his hands and the adrenaline coursing though them.

"Two of very few wolves around here and you had to go and bump into them." Tony added, crossing his arms and leaning in the kitchen archway.

"Guys, do you think we can change the subject?" Skye hissed, seeing that this wasn't making things better. Tony only rolled his eyes, leaned around the corner and disappeared into the kitchen.

"It was incredible guys." He finally muttered. "You should've been there."

"Are you serious? Look at you man, you're a train wreck!" Dean spat. "Seventeen years I've been to this place, and not once have I thought coming face to face with a wolf is incredible."

"But have you ever?" Scott finally looked up to him. Dean couldn't answer, not in all those years he hasn't experienced anything like that before. "Yeah, it freaking scared the crap out of me, but oh my god…you guys should've seen it, it was beautiful." He was actually smiling.

"You're crazy, you know that." Skye said bewildered. He had that crazy look in your eye, and it made it no better with the smile that accompanied it.

"This isn't good." Dean said with a shake of his head. "If wolves like that are in this area, then the rangers ought to know." Suddenly this snapped Scott out of his trance.

"What? No!" He exclaimed and jumping to his feet. "It was just doing what any animal would do."

"And possibly kill you?" Dean questioned. "All I'm going to do is call them, tell them that there could be hostile wolves around. All they'll do is just keep alert, that's how things work up here." He was sceptical about it, what if they just decided there and then this wolf was too hostile for this place, track it down and kill it? It was doing what any mother would do, protecting its child. Or maybe they'd see that, that's all it was; maybe all they'd do is just keep an eye on the situation. He saw sense now and began to settle down.

"Ok, fine…sorry."

"It's ok man." Dean smiled back. "Let me call these guys, then together the four of us can really get started on this vacation."

So that's what they did…The remainder of that day they pent indoors, breaking out and into old board games. Cleaning the place up a little more so it was better to stay in. Nobody fancied going out that night again, a fun afternoon and night in was all they decided to do.

Day two was a more adventurous day, beginning with some chores firstly of course. Cleaning out the old fire pit to the right of the house if you looked at it, this evening after nightfall they wanted to stargaze. Sounds boring…up until Dean found his dad's secret alcohol stash. Nobody planned on waking up hung-over, just something to make the night just a little bit more exciting. With the fire pit, it just needed all the leave scraped out of it, fire wood chopped and stacked and then the deckchairs yanked out of the shed and brushed free of cobwebs, dust and dirt. By the afternoon they were done and they pulled down, hanging from the large shed roof, two double kayaks. Throwing paddles inside they carried them to a river not far where they rowed down towards a town they wanted to visit tomorrow. The river ran along side it until it narrowed and thinned out before hitting a canal lock meaning they had to turn back. Going upstream now, it took almost two hours, nearly double the time it took to get down here, to get back home. Where once they did, Dean had the perfect moment to shove his friend into the river. Tony spat the river's dirty water out and insisted Dean helped him, which foolishly he did only to be greeted by the water himself. A fight in the water engaged, which left Scott and Skye to look at one another, take each other's hand before launching themselves in too.

Day three, the morning was just a nice long lie in and hanging around until anyone could be bothered to get up, which wasn't until gone eleven O'clock. After that, a later breakfast before crawling into a car and driving into town. It was a much more relaxed day, moving at a slower speed and taking their time. Browsing through the different shops, buying clothes, utilities and food to last them the rest of the week. As much as a bloke Skye acted, she liked to have a little girl time in shops.

Day four they chose a new activity, a hike firstly in another direction from the first one they decided to take. Along the way, they were tasked to find objects they made a list of to help pass the time. So random little things like an elk, a coiling tree, a waterfall, a light bulb was even mentioned! They weren't allowed to go home until everything on the list was complete; hence why they never returned home until night was almost on them and night-time animals were coming out. They found that elk, a small set of waterfalls six miles south and they even managed to spot a light bulb! Well…it was in a light belonging the front porch to another cabin a mile west…but it counts!

Now it was day five, and they didn't really have much planned for this day, it was a case of make it up as they went along they reckoned. Scott awoke from his twisted sleeping position on the couch to banging on the front door. He and Tony were going to swap last night, but neither cared for one more night. But then again, there he was laid spread out across the armchair opposite him and seemingly unaware of the knocking at the front door. He took a deep breath, unravelling himself before picking up his phone and checking the time. Not even nine yet, so who the hell could that be knocking at this time? And all the way out here? He rolled over and off the couch, crawling across the floor a few paces before standing up and reaching for the doorknob. Firstly, he looked through the eye hole and his half asleep mind saw only two things, a man and a gun! His eyes snapped open and he pressed his back against the door in a small state of panic. Were they about to be robbed? He should wake Tony at least seeing as he was right there.

The man knocked again, maybe he heard him? But this time he spoke as he did. "Hello? Park ranger, is anyone home?" Ahh…now that made some sense. He looked back through the eye hole and saw a much clearer picture, a ranger in uniform and authentic looking badge pinned to his chest, a rifle still in hand, behind him a SUV and a second man sat inside. Scott brushed his hair a little to flatten out the messy look before composing himself and opening the door. By the time he did, the ranger was walking back down the porch steps. "So this might be the right place."

"Sorry sir, it's kind of early don't you think?" Scott replied and scratching the side of his head with squinted eyes from the morning's brightness. "How can I help?"

The ranger brushed off the young mans rudeness and asked. "We received a call some days ago from a residence around here concerning a wolf attack?" Scott thought for a moment, he hadn't had much time to reflect on that incident those couple of days ago. He removed a small notepad from his chest pocket, flipping over a couple of pages before continuing. "One Mr. Dean Wilson called us about this problem four days ago."

"Yeah…yeah that's right. It was me though that had the problem."

"Well, can you tell me about it? Just for notes, we may need to refer to it later for an investigation."

"Nothing much to tell I'm afraid, I strayed away from my friends came across a wolf den and got too close. It was doing what any other wolf would do."

"From what we were told it acted aggressively, something like this can turn out quite serious in the future." He hated what he was saying; it was only doing what any mother would do for its child. So maybe he had to lie a little bit.

"It was my bad, I got too close. I'm an idiot who's now learned their lesson."

"Can you tell me where about this happened, again, for investigation purposes."

"You know, I can't really remember." He lied. "I don't tend to remember things like that for long. Tell you what; I'll be sure to give you guys a call though ok." He knew exactly what was going to happen if he told them. No ranger comes out here with a gun without using it, this was a locate and eliminate task and he knew it. He went to shut the door, but the butt of the gun was suddenly jammed in-between the door and the frame and a hand opened the door again.

"Look here boy; I don't like your tone." He sneered in his face. "I'm just trying to do my job here, now you need to co-operate with me so I can do that and keep y'all safe, you hear." Scott looked up to his face, sniffing once before responding.

"Yeah, I hear, and I'll call you." And with that he shut the door again, this time successfully.

The ranger turned around to walk back to his car, breathing deeply to control his pent up anger. "I'm getting too old for this shit!" He snarled.

"Relax, let's take a walk up north and see what we find up there." His partner told him. "Park up the car down the road, check the other cabins for news and we'll go hunting."

"Who was that?" Tony had only just become oblivious to the fact someone was at the door, he rubbed his eyes as Scott came around the couch and slumped back on his make shift bed.

"The ranger Dean called the other day, wanted to know where it happened. It was nothing."

"Didn't sound like nothing." He mumbled.

"I wasn't going to tell him where, who comes out here with guns in hand without planning on using them?"

"Fair point." Tony replied. "Are the others up yet?"

"Not that I've seen." Scott answered. "I'm going to go for a run, I won't be long." He wanted to burn some stuff off, that wasn't a way he wanted to wake up. He jumped to his feet, passing and smacking Tony's head playfully, who retaliated in return.

"Knock yourself out." He closed his eyes again, rolled over and begged to go back to sleep.

Within a matter of minutes, Scott was stepping out the door with a change of clothes. Black tracksuit trousers, a thin black shirt with a red jumper. He plugged the second headphone into his ear, flicking through his music player as he did and as he stepped down the porch stairs. But then what was this? It wasn't the music, nothing was playing yet, it wasn't his clothes, it was a feeling. He looked back through the window of the cabin, into the main room where he could just about make out Skye and Dean coming down the stairs. What was this? He didn't understand, so he didn't hanging around trying to understand it for too long. He looked down, selected a song and started running, going around the left of the house and up the hike trail he hadn't been up in four days.

Those days in middle school when he'd occasionally run for the cross country team, he realised how seriously he'd de-trained since. He liked to run still occasionally around Kalispell, only every once in a while did he now. Now he found the consequences for doing so. He must have been going for forty minutes, doing a couple of loops around before taking a different path. He came to a stop at this point, removing one head phone as he got lost in thought. This was the path they took those four days ago, and here was the part where they all split up. He looked left and up hill, the path he bolted in with Tony right behind. The temptation to go that way, to find that wolf den again, as terrifying as it was, he wanted to get that close again. But he knew it was stupid, he came out of it alive, he was lucky. He smiled to himself and shook his head, about to move on when suddenly…

 _BANG_

He froze at the horrific sound, looking back in the way he came. A gun shot, and his curiosity peaked at an all time high, he had to investigate. He ran back a little bit and turned off the path left where he heard the sound. He removed his headphones as he ran, wanting to be as alert as possible. This could be anything, a hunter or someone in a cabin out here shooting for practise. He knew he had to be careful; he didn't want to get in the way of a stray bullet. He must have moved one hundred metres when he came to a stop again, not sure if he was going the right way or not. He looked around him, looking for any sign of a home, a hunter. He was out of breath; he leaned forward against a tree while looking around. Nothing other then hedges, trees and hills. But then he lifted his hand at a wet sensation, a red fluid covered his fingers and the tree at his knee height. It wasn't a lot, but it now narrowed down his list of possibilities. He looked up a little bit, the ground ahead had indentations, prints that looked like a person's He followed them for a few paces before finding another spot of blood on the floor, something was injured. The source of these steps.

He followed them for what must have been another thirty metres before stopping again, this time at sounds. Something like a dog, but a person talking at the same time. He crawled over to a bush, keeping his head bellow it before crouching and looking over the top. A small circular clearing, couldn't be anymore then sixteen feet across. Nothing but grass grew here. Stood in the middle of it was a man with his back to him, hunched over something and when he stepped to the side Scott wanted to gag almost. A wolf lay there, a heavily bleeding wound caked its left side just under its last rib. But what sickened him more was the fact that this was the ranger that he confront a little over an hour ago, to more to the point, he was there grinning and taking pictures of the wolf lying in agonizing pain. His rifle was slung over his shoulder and he took multiple photos from different angles while the wolf just lay there, barely breathing and hardly moving, but still making noises.

He didn't understand why someone would do something like this, he didn't understand what compelled him to do what he did next. "Hey!" He shouted. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" The man stood up straight, a look on his face that suggested he didn't intend to be caught.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked back.

"No, I asked you first." Scott growled back, stopping a few feet away from them.

"I heard a gun shot, so I came here to investigate and this is what I find." No way, Scott didn't believe it one bit.

"But it's still alive, why are you taking pictures and no helping it?"

"With a wound like that she wouldn't survive. So I'm collecting all the evidence I need before acting." He did see some sense in this, but it didn't mean he believe him. With a wound like that, he didn't need to be a doctor or a vet to know it wasn't going to survive this. However, if he was in this "ranger" position, he'd have put it out of its misery, and THEN collected evidence and done so without grinning! "Now if you'll excuse me." The ranger continued, suddenly swinging his rifle around. "I need to do my job." But when he looked up, there Scott stood, stand before him and right in his face with a determined look.

"You aren't touching that animal."

"Excuse me?" He asked half amused. He was taller and much stronger then this kid, did he really think that this was going to go his way?

"You heard me, now back off and I'll do this myself." The ranger only laughed.

"Ok kid, step aside!" He shoved Scott back who tripped over his own footing and fell back and onto his front. He got onto his hands and knees, but then found himself looking into the eyes of the creature that looked back up at him. A flash in his mind occurred, this wolf, it was the exact one he confronted that day! The same fur, those eyes, now full of fear rather then rage. But it was the exact same one! "Get out of my way, boy!" The ranger growled again. He had been pushed around all his life, but now Scott had motivation the retaliate. "Kid, I said move!"

Suddenly, Scott swung his fist around wildly, colliding with the rangers shoulder and then his cheek. Then with the momentum, he leapt up and charged, knowing he'd have to get control of the gun. He grabbed the barrel in one hand and the stock in the other and the wrestle ensued. The ranger was much stronger then he was and they both knew it, but it didn't faze Scott. They pushed and pulled against one another, trying to seize the weapon and gain the upper hand, but Scott's grip was tight, he wasn't letting go for anything! So the ranger deployed a new tactic, using his strength. He began tilting the gun to his left, hoping to start loosening the boy grip on the gun and it worked. Scott found the sweat he had built up from his run lubricating the weapon more and soon he slipped and the hunter shoved him away again. But quickly, Scott picked himself up again, and charged back for the ranger who was cocking the rifle and began lowering it towards him. Then time slowed, a life flashed before Scott eyes and in that time there was a whisper in his ear. He was a metre from the man and the rifle was almost on him when he heard this voice.

" _This is only the beginning."_

BANG


	5. Chapter 4 Prophecies

Prophecy of the Starnik

Chapter 4: Prophecies

Warm, fuzzy, disorientated…they were the best and few of many ways to describe what was happening. Was he drugged and he didn't know? Did Scott really go running into the forest? He felt numb, maybe from all the running? He remembered the ranger, that wolf, but after that it was a lost memory, next thing he was knew he was running as fast as his legs could carry him. A blank void in his mind, but he didn't care now, not about that, the wolf, the ranger, he just had to get away and get home. He needed help, someone tried to kill him. He was exhausted from the distance he had run, and now having to run it again in reverse at top speed. Adrenaline coursed through his veins like race cars, his heart was going to burst out of his chest if this didn't stop. That sound of the gun still echoed in his ears, ringing out around him as if it was following him. Scott continuously looked over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't followed. He can't be far now, then cabin had to have been just around the corner.

He veered around it, but came to an abrupt stop when he saw he was back in another clearing. Had he taken the wrong turn somewhere? He was so sure he didn't. He spun around, running back down the hiking trail to try and retrace his footsteps. He made it twenty feet before he froze again when coming to a second clearing. His head had to be messing with him; it was the exact same clearing! The disorientation was getting to him; this can't be the same clearing. He turned again, or he was sure he was, but the path was no longer there. The trail he just ran down was nothing but hedges, there was no path. What was this?

He looked out into the centre of the clearing, on the other side was a gap maybe indicating another trail. Panic was setting in; he must have come from that way. He made a move, a light paced jog this time across the small area to get there. He looked back again just to be sure, defiantly; there was no pathway over there. He looked ahead again reaching the tree line and ran into a tree. He fell back after face-planting its surface onto his back. He rubbed the front of his head for a minute before looking up, squinting his eyes as the light shone brightly down on him. He didn't understand it; the path was gone again, replaced by a wall of trees. It wasn't possible, the gap between each of them were no more then a couple of centimetres, he leaned forwards and pushed himself up and verified to himself there was defiantly no path over here. He looked around again, more to his disbelief to find now the entire border of this now sixteen foot clearing blocked off by trees. Now this was turning terrifying, fist a normal clearing within this forest, first the paths start moving around, now the area has suddenly shrunk by twenty feet and he's imprisoned by a wall of trees. This made no sense; the ranger must have drugged him this can't be happening.

Scott was so afraid of what was happening to him, nothing made anything sense. All he could think of doing was sit here and wait for whatever had been put in his system to wear off and he could see sense. But still, he took the side to look around and see what really was happening. There wasn't a sound, not a bird, not an animal, a breeze, nothing was here! Wait…suddenly laid in the middle of the clearing was a person, seemingly not moving what so ever. "Hey…Hey!" Scott said loudly, when did he get here? "Hey are you…ARGH!" He saddening reeled away in freight, again falling over and shuffling back again all the way to those trees. He looked into the eyes of the man, those blue eyes he called his own! How could he be lying there? I mean…it was him! Same clothes, eyes, hair, face…It was him!

"No…no, no, no…" He began to mutter over and over again, covering his face. "Wh…what's happening to me? This isn't real, it's not, it can't be." He peeked through a gap in his fingers, looking again at him and now seeing the blood lying beside him. Now a little curiosity started to come over him. He mustered some courage, and started crawling towards it, slowly; feeling as though this may be a prank and whoever this really was would jump up and scream. As he edged closer, sitting back in his heel he investigated the body, a hole in his left shoulder that bled profusely. "No way…" He started to piece things together, the feelings, the disorientation, the events, and now this! He sat up a little straight, looking down at his own left shoulder, with his hand shaking, he raised it and slipped it down into his shirt and wiping, He felt nothing, so maybe that was a good thing? Nope, when he pulled his hand out it was covered in blood. "I'm…" He couldn't finish, his was now in shock, is stared wide eyed at his hand, focusing on nothing but that. He was young, how could this have happened now? He had so much to look forward to!

He refocused his vision when something caught his eye. Lying behind his body now lay that wolf, the brown and white one whom had caused him so much trouble. This was starting to sink in now, and he wasn't as confused as he first was. Still…with a tear falling down his face, he let out a suppressed laugh. At least he died trying to save something so beautiful.

"I should've known better." He sighed.

"Then what?" A woman questioned back. This snapped him awake a little more, looking up and to the left, sat by the wolf's head was the exact same wolf, the same fur, gun wound to her lower abdomen. He wasn't afraid, he was dead, what could hurt him now or make things any worse? But still, it wasn't sat there earlier, and where did that voice come from?

"Umm…excuse me?" He dared to ask, was his sanity starting to drop now?

"You said you "should've known better". What do you mean by that?" Oh gosh…her mouth opened, her lips moved and words came out! This wasn't possible, how could this be? But he played along as amazed and confused as he was.

"Well…I err; I guess I should know better then to fight with people." He answered sheepishly.

"At least you did it for a good cause." She laughed lightly, her eyes drifting down to her body and clearly just as depressed as he was.

"Sorry, but how is this possible? Wolves don't speak." He couldn't wait long; he needed to understand how and why now.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. I couldn't understand humans before this moment. Must be due to this place." She gestured around her.

"Well, I guess we're in the same boat then." He then sighed, bringing them both into an awkward silence. This was strange, for both of them, they were dead, and now they could understand each other. Nothing made any sense now.

"I guess I should say thanks anyway" She then piped up after a moment.

"For what?" He asked curiously.

"Trying to save me, I remember a little bit of you fighting with the other one." She wondered. "Why did you do that?"

"I don't know, I was speaking with him this morning too and we didn't really hit it off well, said he was here about a wolf problem."

"Problem? Was it to do with what happened to us the other day?"

"You remember that?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, it was only four days ago. And it's not every day a human walks into your home."

"Then what about your kid?" Suddenly the thought came into Scott's mind. "What'll happen to it?" Now this was interesting to see, documentaries never showed things like this. A tear leaked down her face, her bottom lip began to quiver. "I mean, will your pack look after it? You must have one around there somewhere."

"I haven't been in a pack for two years; I don't know what'll happen to her." She sniffed, shortly followed by a sob and hanging her head good and low. "She's only four months old; she can't do anything for herself yet."

"What about a father?"

"My mate left me the day he found out I was pregnant with her." She quickly answered. "She hasn't got anyone." Soon another tear started to fall and it turned into a cry. "I lost my mother at an early age; I didn't want Rosie to have the same fate, let alone see the entire thing. I told her to run home if she could, and seeing as she isn't here I'm going to guess that's what she's done." She cried. This was horrific to witness, so maybe things can be worse here now. There was really only one thing Scott could come up with, but he had no idea how he'd react to the proposition. He shuffled over and around his body to get a little closer to her while she still sobbed.

"I don't really know how it works with you guys…" He said and getting her attention a little bit. "But when someone's upset we offer them comfort." He held his hand to her and of course she didn't know what to expect and shied away a bit. But soon she saw he was no threat here, nothing was anymore. So she nodded, shuffling a little further across to him and nervously and awkwardly leaning up against him. He cautiously placed his hand on her shoulder and let her cry beside him.

For a few minutes there were here, just sitting quietly, slowly the female wolf started to lean in closer to this point now where she was entirely against him. They had moved back towards the trees that enclosed them here, refusing to let them leave this now claustrophobic place. He was sat with his leg straight out in front of him and now she was laid on her front with her head resting on her forepaws with an occasional sniff or jitter for breath.

"My name…is Sarah." She suddenly spoke. Scott couldn't help but smile just a little bit.

"I'm Scott, and it was a pleasure to be here by your side." He stroked her from her shoulder to the mid-section of her back and left his hand resting there.

"So where do you think we are, Scott?"

"Not a clue. Can't be heaven, I pictured a nice beach somewhere." This time she giggled a little bit.

"I thought I'd find a nice flowery meadow." This time he chuckled to himself a little bit, and while he did she then sat up and two looked over towards their bodies. "Maybe there's a reason we're still here, maybe we've got to do something to…you know, move on."

"Like a puzzle? I'm no good at those." She sighed. "Who knew it was challenging to get to heaven?" She replied sarcastically.

"Maybe there's some kind of a task we've got to do first, but what?" But then a thought came to mind, one that soon transformed into a great idea.

"Well…maybe…"

"Maybe what?" Scott quickly asked. She shook her head, it was ridiculous.

"Nothing, it makes no sense what so ever."

"Come on, we've got nothing but time." He responded and bringing his legs in and crossing them.

"Naa, it's silly, just an old pup story every wolf knows." She looked up to him, a look that showed he was waiting for her to begin soon made her give in. "There's a story, that's apparently based on something real. A long time and, and I mean a REALLY long time ago back in the time of the Dire Wolves, humans and us fought for the right as top dog of the world. Obviously humans won, but not before a human and a Dire Wolf came together wanting peace, for the fighting to stop. It's said the gods in those times saw them and believed that everyone could learn from them, and to help out they gave them these...powers."

"Powers? Like flying or laser vision?" Scott now couldn't help but laugh out this time; this was turning rather funny now.

"See, I told you it was dumb!" She exclaimed and hitting his arm with some force before getting up and walking towards their bodies.

"Wait, come on, I'm sorry, keep going?" He begged while getting up and walking after her.

"Are you going to laugh anymore?" She asked rather seriously.

"I don't know, we'll see." She just rolled her eyes and carried on walking up to their bodies and going around.

"Anyway, it was said that on their own they'd fail, so to help the gods gave them these…abilities." She watched him, eyeing him carefully to make sure he didn't start laughing again, which he nearly did before continuing. "The human could move things with his mind and gained wolf like speed, agility and accuracy. And the wolf could heal any wound or deformity caused from the fighting along with the ability to use and control the air and winds around her. They called themselves the Starnik. They made progress until things went really bad and they were cast away and killed. But legend says that they disappeared in a ball of fire after saying that someone else will come in the future and succeed what they failed to do."

"Ok…I think I understand. But that relates to this because…?" Scott asked completely unsure.

"It's said the only way for that to happen; an ancient ritual had to take place. A human had to give it's like for a wolf, while a second wolf had to witness the sacrifice and stand in the blood of the deceased one for the ritual to be complete. Only then will they gain the powers of the Starnik. Obviously nobody in those days or in the last few thousand years would ever give their life for the other species. The human would be resurrected and the wolf sacrificed would be given a high honour in the afterlife."

"Ok, let me stop you right there." Scott said and coming to her side. "Even if this was true, and as far fetched as it may be, how could we have done this ritual? I mean, sure, I took a bullet trying to defend you, but what about the rest of it." She sparked an idea, looking behind her body towards the trees before running over to the barricade and peeking through the thin gap it left. Scott followed after her for a moment and tried to see what she was looking for.

"That log there." She pointed out, no more then five feet from them, hollowed out from the top, large enough for a small size dog to squeeze in. "When the human chased us, I put Rosie in there, then after you fell and he ran she came over and I can't really remember much after that." Now he turned around and moved back towards their bodies, looking carefully at the ground around Sarah's body.

"You've got to be kidding me." His eyes widened a little bit.

"What is it?" Sarah asked and turning around.

"Paw prints." He pointed to the ground. "Coming from you, I guess you were right, she did stand right here." Sarah saw for herself, little red print leading from her body, coming around to her back and then moving away and thinning out before fading beyond the trees.

"Oh gosh, we actually did it." She gasped. "You defended me, I defend Rosie and she watched and stood in my blood. That girl, I told her to run, never did listen to a word I say."

Suddenly, they both heard a crunching sound, and looking off in the direction in which little Rosie's footprints ran off in, amazingly, the trees were moving, like they had a mind of their own. "No freaking way…" Both human and wolf said at the exact same time in unison. The tree bases stood still, but their trunks bent away from one another opening up in the middle. They twisted a little bit but slowly and eventually they opened up and stopped.

"Look's like that's why nothing happened, we had to figure it out first."

"I'm going to live!" Scott couldn't believe it, he was the luckiest guy in the world in his opinion. Who gets a chance like this? Before he knew it, he was walking towards the hole in the trees. It was common sense really, he stepped out of it and he'd wake up, he'd be fine. Or so Sarah said. Wait… He froze again when she suddenly replaced his thoughts of living. Slowly he turned to face her; she still stood there looking at him with a small smile on her face. "I can't go."

"You must, you are the human they spoke of in the story. You've got a second chance, don't let it pass."

"No, you go instead." He insisted and moving away from the hole again. "Be with your daughter. You said so yourself you don't want her growing up with you, so take my place."

"Don't be ridiculous, it's not me that has permission to leave, my fate has been decided, yours hasn't.

"But…"

"No buts!" She exclaimed in a great mother's scolding tone. "You go, find my daughter and look after her, you hear me. Tell her everything I've just told you, you both have a great destiny and I'm proud of that. This is already hard enough so don't make it any harder human." Now this had to be the strangest argument either of them had ever had, or lives again and who dies. I don't think either of them planned on having this conversation ever!

"Thank you Sarah." Scott got down on one knee. "I'm glad I fell from your den that day."

"I'm glad I didn't kill you then." She replied with a single tear falling from her eye.

Suddenly it was like something had grabbed onto hi, like arms wrapped around his body and started dragging him back, even though he and Sarah saw nothing was there. An invisible force pulled him towards the hole in the trees and there was nothing he could do to stop them. He fought against it, not ready to leave without saying goodbye yet. Still with a tear but now a smile on her face Sarah just continued to watch as he was yanked away almost through the hole with time to repeat… "Find my daughter, complete the Starnik prophecy!" and with that he was thrown through the hole, an extreme case of pins and needles ran through his body, it actually hurt a quite a bit. He was twisted around while he as pulled through, thrown a little bit but miraculously landed on his feet, stumbling forwards a few steps before coming to a suddenly stop. Now everything felt weird again.

Panting again a little bit, he immediately stood up straight, hearing birds and feeling a breeze, but turning to look back at Sarah. She wasn't there; neither was the hole, the wall of trees, but now the clearing with nothing lying there. Standing just at the edge of the clearing, he expected to at least his and Sarah's body, but there was nothing, neither of them. He held up his hands, was that all real? He patted his leg, stomach, feeling to make sure he was still whole and awake. Wait, the wound! He placed his hand back down his jumper and shirt and pulled his hand out. To his disbelief, his hand again was covered in blood, as was the outside of his already red jumper. He needed to get this looked at and stitched. But Sarah's last words abruptly rung in his head as it she was in there somewhere. _"Find my daughter…"_


	6. Chapter 5 Realisations

Prophecy of the Starnik

Chapter 5: Realisations

Now this was Deja-vu, running again, this time with some understanding of where he was heading too. His mind burned with confusion and a desperate want for answers to the questions that roamed his brain. He was dead. Literally, for what he gathered he was no longer on this earth, his heart stopped and his breathing ceased, yet when everything seemed to return to normal here he was, standing again. Scott knew he was dead, that was no dream, that feeling of no longer being present, empty. Then of course there was what happened. The ranger, the gunshot wound that was still present and bleeding, but no longer hurting, the crazy hallucinations that could've only happened in such a place, that world in-between. Then that wolf, Sarah, other then being a different species they had little differences. Who would've thought, talking wolves in the afterlife with prophecies and stories?

He leapt over a fallen tree; he swerved around a hedge as the ground started to descend down a hill then with one final jump over a small shrub, he stopped. He stood back up straight, looking left and right. Scott thought he was lost for a moment; his instincts guided him right, for once. The pathway he followed, the exact moment he turned off after hearing the first gunshot. He smiled to himself, taking a moment to get his breath back and think through how he'd explain all of this to Tony, Dean and Skye. He checked his wound quickly under his jumper and shirt, it still bled so he needed to get a move on and get back.

He was two steps into walking left when he stopped, curiosity building over him when a whisper echoed in his head like his own consciousness speaking to him. _"Find my daughter, the wolf can heal."_ He cocked his head back the other way, to the right. The last and only time he had ventured that far down the trail was the day he had that close encounter with Sarah. He needed to see this through, play along with it. This was the one way he could confirm everything. The time, just gone ten, the others wouldn't start worrying for another hour. He started moving again; this time going in that direction he thought he'd never go back in.

Scott tried to retrace his steps, this time only using a fast paced walk and clutching his shoulder in order to try and stop some of this bleeding. He knew he veered off to the right again, taking it uphill at some point. He tried to think of that map he saw of the surrounding area Dean showed him, there was a Valley around two miles in length and half a mile wide, he guessed that's probably why the ground was always going down to his right. When things no longer looked familiar, that's when he turned right, moving uphill again. He didn't know where he was going; nothing looked the same as before. But then again he was running away after all from Tony, he wasn't exactly taking in the environment at the time. He was walking around hoping for the best really.

He must have been searching for twenty minutes when finally he saw something vaguely familiar. The log he leant against, he used this to hide. He looked on ahead and past it, he ran passed it afterwards and that's what he did then. It was around here somewhere, not far at all! He stopped for a minute, he needed to think and really take in his surroundings. Nothing, absolutely nothing, looked familiar. "Where, oh where are you?" He panted, a continuous amount of sweat dripping down his forehead. His best hoped was to start moving downhill and see where it took him. He stumbled along, dragging his feet behind him with no clear sight on where he was looking. Nothing here looked recognisable! Suddenly, he tripped, falling again, now this he did remember.

"Oh sh…" He was able to start before he landed flat on his back, looking up through the tree canopy with stars flying around his head. The wind again knocked out of him, unable to breathe and a loud crack vibrating down his back when e flinched. "Ahh…now that…I remember." An eight foot drop beneath a bright blue sky through the trees, now this was familiar. It took a moment, but he finally managed to roll onto his front, heaving a little as he did and taking another moment while on his hands and knees before eventually sitting back onto his heels. He looked behind him, lone behold there it was, that hole in this little rise. Time he sought out for answers.

He pushed himself up, stumbling again towards the den. But then he stopped and listened, he heard crying inside. Now this was the moment that would answer it all, either it was a human in there crying or… "Umm…hello?" The crying continued, he was pretty quiet so maybe he wasn't heard. "Hey, Ro-Rosie, are you in there?"

It all went quiet, the sobbing abruptly ending. "Rosie is that you?"

"Who…Who's there?" A little girl's voice responded back. This girl had to be no older then twelve from the sounds of it, but that was a guess, he had no clue!

"I'm…look, is there any chance you could come out, it's kind of hard to see in there?" This was turning strange again, he'd admit, there was a part of him that hoped everything with Sarah was one big dream, including this. He could see to the back of the den, but the shadows hid much of it. Then he saw something, towards the back left side of the den, there was a large rock around three to four foot high, and from around the right side he saw a little dog's head poke out. Obviously it was no dog, and his suspicions, and worries, were proven.

"You…w-what are you do-doing here?" She said in-between sniffs and little sobs. She didn't move any further, only her little grey and brown head was visible.

"Do you remember me?"

"Yeah, I mean, you were here the other day and then…" She quickly hid again, tucking herself back and hiding behind that rock again, those sobs now replaced with whines and the occasional weep. Scott wasn't really sure what to do here; he was WAY out of his league. Sure he dealt with upset girls before, but this was an upset wolf…child…girl.

"Look Rosie, your mom sent me." She stopped again, she didn't move but she at least replied.

"My mom? Is she ok?" Now this was going to be heartbreaking to say, at no point in his ordinary life did he think he would have to deliver such news.

"I'm sorry, she's gone." The little cries and whine ensued as a result. "Look, she told me…"

"She's gone!" She cried loudly, even some kind of aggression thrown in there. "You're a human, humans are bad!"

"I'm not going to hurt you." Scott insisted.

"Just…leave me alone!" She shouted again, her sobs turning into a full cry. He really didn't know what to do, so he turned around. He wanted to be left alone, so maybe he should, maybe this wasn't right and this was just some crazy dream. He turned and began to walk away, but again he stopped when seeing that it wasn't right. Human, Wolf, it made no difference, this was a child who had lost its mother, it wasn't the right thing to do. He turned again, walking back and leaning into the shadows.

"Listen, I'm going to be just out here. Your mom made me come here, so when your ready, we can talk." With that said he turned around, walked towards that rock he previously leaned against the last time he was here and sat back against it, looking over that view of the Valley through the tree.

Scott didn't know how long he was sat there for, but he knew by now the others were certainly going to worry about him. He was beyond that point where they wouldn't have worried, he knew they would be starting to. Even though he knew it was wrong to leave now, especially after he told this young wolf…girl, whatever it was you'd call them, that he'd stay to talk, he had contemplated leaving to see his friends many times. But he'd come back, obviously there was something behind all this. If what Sarah said was true, then if the three of them did complete this "ritual", then one of the many things he could remember was that he'd begin to understand the wolf language. Well…he just spoke to a wolf, in the real world this time. Things were starting to add up. It had to have been half an hour when he heard movement for the first time. Scott looked back to the den, that same little wolf cub standing there. He saw a new perspective for her now; she looked somewhat different, not so much of an animal. He didn't understand it, he didn't understand anything anymore. She stood there; clearly she was scared, her tail slightly curled underneath her showed that. Her cheeks were damp and her eyes practically bloodshot.

"Look, I…"

"Who are you?" Rosie interrupted. Again, just like with Sarah, her mouth moved, English words and noises came out.

"I'm…I'm Scott, you are Rosie right?" He tried to keep his cool, it's not everyday you explain things like this to a talking wolf.

"How do you know my name?" She demanded again. She was some ballsy twelve year old, but then again twelve was more like twenty these days. Apparently the same applied in the wolf world too.

"Listen, there's no easy way to put this, so I'm just going to come out and say it." He said as he slithered down to sit on the floor and lean back against that rock. "I spoke with your mom; she told me your name and where to find you."

"Mom? My mom is gone, how could she have told you?" She asked back with a fresh tear falling down her cheek.

"The same way I'm telling you, something happened to us."

"You were dead, you weren't breathing, how are you ok but she's not?" Her questions were endless; she had the time to think about what she wanted to ask him earlier.

"She said I was meant to come back, it's hard to explain…"

"Well start explaining." She demanded again. Boy she was starting to get on his nerves a little now. How did Sarah put up with her?

"She told me this really weird story, something about a star or something, it concerned a person and a wolf and after doing this…thing, they would get some kind of power." He tried to remember the story, it didn't sound right, but it was the best he could describe it from what he could remember.

"Wait, you mean "Starnik"?" She questioned, now seemingly a little curious and taking a little step closer to him.

"I don't know, it might be."

"It's a story…mom used to tell me, a human and a wolf would get powers to help bring them all together. It happened once and someone else would do it again. Do you know this story?"

"No, no I don't, but your mom told me about it."

"How? When?" How again

"You said it yourself, I was dead, and when I was I saw your mom, she told me this story and how it had to happened. Something about a human dying for a wolf and another wolf witnessing it all and standing in their blood. When they do they'll get these powers after the human comes back to life."

"And you're still here because…" She was still trying to figure it out, and while she did Rosie took another step closer to him. He didn't get the chance to answer before it struck her, the thought popping into her head, making her eyes widen a little in shock when she saw he had the same thought. "You think that we…you and me…did that?"

"I think so, I mean, it's the only explanation for why I can understand you and you me." He nodded.

She thought for a moment, it did provide a reasonable explanation. She had to ravage her mind, she knew the story just not much of it, her mind was full of other things rather then silly stories. She was more focused these days on playing games, going to watch her mother hunt and learn for herself, with no pack things were hard as she was always told. She looked back up t the human who was now crouched down, his hand remaining on his shoulder; she scented the air, an irony smell flooding her nostrils. "You're bleeding." She said, trying to see the wound without getting too much closer, she was around four feet away, far enough to run if need be.

"Yeah, tell me about it. I need your help."

"My help? Why not go to your humans?" She asked curiously.

"I was told the wolf could heal; now if it works it proves I'm not crazy and this is really happening." She looked in straight in the eye, something her mom would always do to find out if she was lying. She didn't know what to look for, but she wanted a reason to back away from the human, it went against her instincts to approach him. But she also wanted to know whether or not this was true, or if it was a dream and she'd wake up and her mom was there beside her. She looked back and froth from his eyes to his bleeding shoulder that was now ridiculously messy. She sighed, shaking her head.

"Ok, fine. We'll try it."

"And if it doesn't work, it's cool, no hard feelings." He nodded, sitting back onto his heels and now waiting for her. Rosie bit her bottom lip, she was scared, this was a freaking human! But still…she saw no weapon, he showed no sign that he wanted to hurt her. So maybe this was worth a shot?

She slowly moved in closer, taking careful side steps, Scott looked around hoping body was here or his friends were looking for him, this was a sensitive moment. She stood in front of him, now in touching distance. He pulled down his jumper and shirt, revealing the bleeding gunshot wound in his shoulder. She'd seen worse, her mother showed her the best bits of a kill. With another sigh, she moved in, narrowing her eyes and staring at his shoulder, trying to focus on it. Nothing happened other then the awkwardness rising. "Try touching it." He suggested. Rosie looked up to him a minute, again making sure he wasn't going to do anything. She lifted her paw, slowly edging closer and placing it down on his shoulder and covering the wound. She focused again, this time trying with her eyes closed. She didn't know what she was doing, how this worked, if it did, she didn't know what she was supposed to do. It didn't take her long until she shook her head again and opened her eyes.

"Nothing's happening; I don't know what I'm supposed to do." They both sighed, maybe this wasn't right. The bright side though, at least this was looking more like it was a dream. "I wish my mom was here, she would know what to do. She knew more about the story then I do."

"Don't worry about it, we tried. She would have been proud for at least trying." Scott smiled nonetheless. But then... "Oh my god…" He quickly added.

"What?" She asked back, now beginning to worry again about something.

"You…your um, you've got…" He referred to something on her face.

"My what?" She asked, she didn't understand.

"You, ahh!" He seethed when abruptly his shoulder exploded with as much pain as ten bee stings all at once in the same area. Rosie ripped her paw away, instantly jumping away at his suddenly movement and a strange sensation running through her body.

"What did you do?" She asked, her tail tucking under her body again.

"Me? What did you do? I mean, you're eyes, they're green!" He demanded back, checking his wound again. Rosie felt around her eyes, feeling for some kind of abnormality. He didn't believe it, his own eyes widening when he looked at it. He fell silent, worrying her more.

"What's wrong?"

"Look." He pulled his short down more, there was a silver spot in his shoulder, he tapped it, it was hard. "Come here, do that again."

"Do what again?" She asked and walking back to him again, now getting curious all over again.

"Whatever you were thinking of, think of it again." He took her paw, forcibly and covered it again, using his hand to keep it there. She thought for a moment, what was it she was thinking of? It took a moment but she had it eventually, just a time of her and her mom playing around here, just a random memory that came to mind. Again, he was stung by all those bees, or so it felt, this time he didn't move away and neither did she. He watched her eyes again, from the bright hazel to a dark green, more magically, her iris's moved around her pupil. So much was happening; he wasn't sure where to look.

God this hurt, he took his hand away and she moved her paw across a little bit and lone behold there was the hole. The silver dot, it was the bullet moving out of his shoulder like some forced pushed it out all the way until it fell and he caught it. Looking back to his wound though, even more amazing, the blood soaked into his clothes faded, but seeped back up his body and into the wound. Rosie didn't know want she was doing, she just watched on in bewilderment. How was she doing this? The wound closed on itself, forming a scar which then faded, the whole process was over in ten seconds and even then when the moment was over they didn't move of take their eyes off each other. Rosie looked at his shoulder, unmarked and his clothes only left with a hole in them, Scott looked from that to her eyes that still pulsated and swirled around. This certainly wasn't natural, not that he knew anyway.

Eventually Rosie slid her paw away, staring at her pads to make sure there was nothing under them, that it was no trick. Scott looked at the bullet that came from his shoulder, the end deformed from the impact on bone and stained with blood. He spread the skin apart where the wound was, there wasn't even a scratch. "Wow…thanks, I guess." Scott said dumbfounded.

"Your welcome." She muttered back, her eyes never leaving her paw. Although when they finally did she only saw Scott looking straight back into hers, his own eyes never changing. "What is it?"

"Is it normal for your eyes to do that?" He asked.

"Is it normal for yours?" She questioned back. He didn't understand, so to try and understand Rosie took off with a fast paced walk behind her and to the right of the den, there she found a puddle and stared down getting a close look. He soon joined her, crouching down the opposite side and looking down at his eyes. Both of them bore dark green irises, completely different from her regular hazel and his normal blue. Not only that, but it moved, swirling around their pupil and even pulsating so lightly. Their eyes had a mind of their own, they weren't doing this. Soon enough only a few moment later, their normal colour returned, their irises settling and everything looked perfectly normal. Scott spread his eye lids apart to get a closer look to clarify that it was something out of the ordinary and not some trick of the light or something that disappeared behind his eyeball.

"So, does this mean everything you said was real?" Rosie then brought up after an awkward moment of silence.

"I didn't believe it; your mom told me this."

"So you really spoke to her? Is she…you know, ok?"

"I wanted to swap places with her, she was happy to stay." Scott nodded with a smile, sitting back onto his heels as he did. "Although…" He then added when he remembered one of her few last words.

"What?" She questioned back.

"She told me to come and find you, to look after you as well. I kinda promised her I would."

"I-I don't know about that, I don't really know you." She was worried of the thought; so much has happened today she wasn't sure what to think anymore. She was alone now, before she had her mother to make her decisions for her, but now she had to make them herself. But she couldn't help but feel insecure about something like this. "What about your other humans, don't you need to be with them?" Now that was a good point, he needed to start heading back, now before they start coming to look for him. Hours he's been out here now, way more then it usually takes to go for a run. He looked the young wolf in the eye, an idea coming to his mind.

"Ok, I'm not going to break a promise so this is what we'll do. I'm going to go back, only for a little bit, I'm going to explain everything to them, absolutely everything, then I'm going to come back here and get you and bring you home with me." It was foolproof, easy. "Ahh, wait, they don't allow pets in my apartment…" He then released.

"Your what?" What were these strange words?

"Ok, better plan, we'll stay in the cabin." That idea was much better, warmth, a bed, food and a forest right outside. "Yeah, Dean won't mind, I'm sure he'll let us." He looked back to her, she didn't have the faintest idea what he was talking about and quickly he understood. "Right, you're going to stay here, do not go anywhere until I come back." He summarised and standing up.

"Wait, what? I don't understand." She said and standing up as well.

"Just, don't go anywhere, I'll only be an hour, if not, then I'll be back before dark."

"Where else can I go?" She replied sarcastically. "Just promise me you'll come back. I don't want to be alone." She then said more seriously. She may not fully trust this human, but she certainly didn't want to be left alone in this crazy time.

"I promise." He smiled lightly. "Stay put alright, we're going to be ok." He said and making off towards the cabin with a fast paced walk at first which then turned into another run.


End file.
